The Peabody Awards

Reality Check: Where Are the Jobs? (WTHR-TV)

In this report, award-winning station WTHR-TV’s Eyewitness News continues a tradition of outstanding investigative reporting. Reporter Bob Segall and his 13 Investigates team, including Bill Ditton and Jim Hall, examined repeated claims made by Indiana’s Economic Development Corporation, claims citing the creation of 100,000 new jobs and billions of dollars in economic development projects. The agency refused, however, to provide proof of these numbers. When the team then traveled throughout the state, they discovered abandoned buildings and empty fields, sites listed as providing the jobs and the money. Publicity touting the successes merely reported “planned projects,” with “projected job numbers” attached. While the Indiana agency refused to release actual figures, 13 Investigates was granted easy access to similar reports in surrounding states. The station’s reports pushed officials into more open dialogue on the issues, and a subsequent independent audit confirmed the findings reported by WTHR. For precise, accurate and compelling reporting that served the citizens of Indiana, a Peabody Award goes to Reality Check: Where Are the Jobs?